Baby Got Back Extensions

As I mentioned last time, I'm working on my bootay. Seriously. I am. Squats, Bulgarian Split Squats and Bret Contreras's 30 day Back Extension Challenge. Well I am proud to say today I managed 2 sets of 25 back extensions! When I started a little over a week ago I could barely manage 10. Progress. I like it. Especially when it comes to my posterior chain. Nice. But not in a creepy way. Ok I'm a creep. I like big butts and I cannot lie.

Since having a well rounded ass means nothing if you have a big stomach, I have been working on my diet too. With breastfeeding, being on maternity leave and it being Fall, I have a sweet tooth. I usually want something sweet after I eat. So I've been looking for healthy recipes online. This past week, I've made Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies and Date Energy Balls. I substituted coconut flour for almond flour in the cookie recipe and  it was delicious. The date energy balls are equally as good if not better. The Detoxinista really knows what she's talking about. Check her out and make some stuff. You will not be disappointed.

Next week is Diwali, the Indian festival of lights so we'll be going to my parents house. Since the date energy balls sort of taste like mithai but are MUCH healthier, I'm going to make a batch and take it over. I will be indulging in the mithai my mom makes though (you would too, it's that good!) but at least I won't feel too guilty if I snack on some of mine as well.

I'm just about at my pre pregnancy weights for some of my lifts and I'm EXTREMELY happy about that. I did 5X5 at 75lbs for Back Squats today. I had my numbers from before I had Little Diva and a couple days before I found out I was pregnant with her, I did 3 sets of 5 at 90. So I'm getting there. 75 felt easy for me so I'm sure I'll be at 90 in no time.

It's really great to be able to workout like I did before. It's also really great to not worry about what everyone else is doing since I workout alone. I do miss my CrossFit friends and my box but working out at home takes away a lot of wondering how people can lift so much and allows me to focus on me. It also saves me money which is necessary these days with two kiddos.

And I'm Baaccck!

I'm bouncing all over the place, aren't I? My brief stint at Wordpress is over with. The amount of spam comments and inability to track stats was driving me bonkers. Also, for some reason, my homemade yogurt post got way too much attention. Attention I like, attention from non kid friendly websites, no thank you. I much prefer Blogger. Okay moving on.

So far for the month of October, I have worked out all but 4 days! I am proud of myself and getting back on track. I haven't been running much due to Little Diva being a little too young for the jogging stroller but I have been strength training and writing down my weights. I am working on form and hope to be at my pre pregnancy weights soon!

In addition to my regular workouts, I have started Bret Contreras's 30 Day Back Extension Challenge. When I first started, I could barely do 10 in a row. Today I did 3 sets of 20. I already see a difference in my butt. I swear I do. I unfortunately didn't take a before pic but I'll take one today so I have something to compare it too.

The end of this month will mark 3 months since I had Little Diva and a picture update of my progress so far. I haven't seen much movement on the scale but I'm really trying not to focus on that. I'm getting stronger everyday and that's all that matters!

That gave me the motivation to workout this morning. I did overhead presses with 45lbs (5X3) and then did 3 rounds of back extensions, ring rows and wall squats. I ended with pull ups. I am no where near where I used to be with pullups but this time I'm going to work on getting a strict pull up before I start kipping. I honestly think you need to be able to do at least 1 strict pull up before you can kip. Maybe not but I didn't have luck the other way around, so might as well switch it up right?

Non workout related, I am going on month 3 of exclusively breastfeeding. I am thrilled about that. I supplemented with formula my first time around so this is a big deal for me. And for the record, I am not one of those people that think breastfeeding is the only way to go. You have to do what works for you and your little one. It was easy for me this time around so that's why I continued to do it.

Yesterday Hubby and I went outlet shopping and my purchases surprised me. I went to Nike and got some comfortable tops that I can wear with leggings or yoga pants. I then when to Eddie Bauer and got a bunch of fleeces and a plaid shirt. My style has changed and I'm leaning more toward function over fashion these days. Not that I don't make plaid look cute, it's just that I have realized that I never wear heels on the weekend, like ever. So now my mission is to make functional comfortable clothing look cute. Seriously I will not be a frumpy mama. End of story.

What do you wear on the weekends? Are you a mama that rocks heels (I give you credit if you do!) or do you live in yoga pants and make them look cute?

I have Moved

New Year, New Beginnings and a New Blog. Please follow me at My Running Start. (www.my-running-start.com). There's a new post up there waiting for you! 

Sometimes Life Comes First

It's been a long while. A LONG while. I've missed you guys, terribly. But with prepping for vacation, vacation itself, Hubby being in he ER after vacation with a stomach virus and everyone generally not feeling well, life's been busy. Slowly things are going back to normal and I am grateful for that. I wish you all Happy Holidays! Little Beast enjoyed opening his presents yesterday, one after the other. He crawled though the 6 foot Tunnel his uncle bought him, then painted on the Easel Santa got for him and enjoyed playing with his train set. I think I enjoyed it a bit more though. Trains are fun.

My Little Artist

Busy Playing with his Train

Santa decided to spoil Mommy as well, I got the lifting shoes I wanted! I am so excited to break them out for CrossFit.

Speaking of CrossFit, I haven't been since before vacation and I am dying to go back. In addition to all that's going on, my dad had foot surgery during Thanksgiving so I have been helping my Mom with his care. That leaves even less time in the day. It's fine. Life comes first sometimes. When things slow down, I'll return to CrossFit, I'm hoping next week or this weekend! 

So the million dollar question. Not million dollars. Just a question. I exaggerate. Anyways, did you see the Crock Pot in the back of the picture of Little Beast playing with his train set? Santa gave that to me as well! Am I excited? Hell yes! Do you know my love of crock pots? It's a love based on convenience and quality. Crock Pot cooking is easy, stress free and pretty much my favorite way to cook. Since my old one is on it's way out, it was the perfect present. It also has a timer so I can set it in the morning before work and come home to dinner. Ah the life. 

Aside from my family life and working out, I have some blog related news. I am still working on  my new site - it's a slow process. While doing so, I am also writing articles for mommyhotspot.com. Check out my latest article on Sports Bra Reviews. 

Hope you and yours enjoy the holidays! 

Love to Lift

This past Saturday was the Lift-a-thon in honor of our friend Val's family who lost everything in the Philippine Typhoon. I am proud to say that our box raised $2,000 in a matter of 3 hours. We came really together and pitched in. Love my CF fams.

Hubby and I both participated in the Lift-a-Thon. Hubby PR'd on both his bench press and deadlift. Because I'm a proud wife, here's a video of him deadlifting 275. He makes it look easy. I know he has a 300 lb deadlift in him.



Now after you see Hubby's perfect form, check me out. Awkward and funny - all part of my charm. But whatever I PR'd at 180 lbs!



The rest of Saturday was good. Friends came over and brought Little Beast a tool bench for his birthday. He will be 2 this Friday. I honestly can't believe it's been 2 years already. He spent the entire day playing with his tools. Gotta love new toys!

Since this week is an easy week, work wise, I am planning on going to CF at least 3 times this week. I have been going as much as possible lately and I definitely feel stronger. I'm hoping to stay after class and work on kipping either Tuesday or Wednesday. Thanksgiving day I will need to get a run in. We have a 5K coming up on December 8 and I haven't run since I did 10 miles over a month ago. So it's time to get back on track. My goal for the 5K is under 26 minutes.

After the 5K, we will be going to Jamaica for my cousin's wedding. I am looking forward to seeing my family, partying at the wedding AND of course jerk chicken. Y'all don't know my love of Jamaican Jerk Chicken. It's real. I love me some jerk. Add beef patties to that and I'm in heaven. I swear I'm going to come back at least 5 pounds heavier. Oh well, stay calm and eat on vacation...biiiitch. :)

I Can't Clean

Seriously I can't. I have a cleaning lady. She comes every other week and turns my messy house spotless. With Little Beast and the Chubbies, it is impossible to have a spotless house all the time. Lie. With me, it's impossible to have a spotless house all the time. I don't enjoy cleaning and I'm not very good at it. Yes I'm a wife and mom. I still can't clean. Sue me. Actually please don't, I spend all my money on my cleaning lady.

Speaking of cleaning, I can't clean very well at CrossFit either. Two days ago, lunges were part of the WOD and the RX was 95 lbs for girls. I did 65. And after the 3rd round (there were 5), I couldn't even clean 65. The Coach had to give me the bar so I could do lunges and said we'll work on cleans another day. Fast forward to today and since it was free skill work day, I worked on cleans. I practiced my form with the 35 lb bar and then practiced more with 55 lbs. It felt easy. I'm pretty sure I can clean 75 lbs now and with practice, I should be able to power clean more so that I can eventually RX something. I want to be an RX girl.

Once I can do that, I will have truly earned this t-shirt and you better believe I will buy it.

Love this shirt!

This Saturday our box is doing a Lift-a-Thon for one of our members that has family in the Philippines that lost everything in the Typhoon. We basically get to pick a lift (our max) and we get 3 tries to get to our max. Then you either have sponsors or pay up to 10 cents a pound depending on how much you lift. I am going for a 180 lb deadlift. Last week my 1 rep max was 165. I'm really hoping to PR and since the more I lift, the more I give, my motivation is pretty high. I'll keep y'all posted. Apparently I was from the South in my previous life. Y'all!

I'm working on some changes to my blog so you may be redirected to another site in the next couple of weeks. Still me, don't be alarmed. I hope you continue to read my endless babble and continue on this journey with me. It'll be fun...ny, I promise.

CrossFit: Church, Cult or Community?

I've been home the past 3 days, either working from home or taking time off, and I have managed to go to CrossFit all 3 of those days. I've had great workouts and a not so great workout. I've seen my friends, made plans and talked about about fitness goals. I've come home tired, sometimes discouraged, sometimes amped and I always look forward to the next day. Currently my box is planning a Lift-a-Thon for a fellow member who's family lost everything they had in the Philippines. We help each other out, we cheer each other on and we're there for each other when needed. We're family. 

You know my addiction to Google. While I was thinking about this earlier, I googled CrossFit Church to see what came up. I found a blog post from a girl that described what's CrossFit is all about BUT she had never been to CrossFit. No bueno. I stopped reading. So here's my thoughts on whether CrossFit is like Church, a Cult or Community. 

Wikipedia. My other favorite. Yes I'm on the internet a lot. Can't help it. Work sucks sometimes. I love the squirrel. Anyways, Wikipedia defines Church as: A Christian Place of Worship. Since CrossFit is neither religious nor a place of worship, I think it's safe to say that comparison is out. We do have events and bring baked goods (ie the cupcakes I brought to the Snatch Clinic) but we're not worshipping anything, except for the person that recently got a movement we haven't yet, in my case my nemesis Kipping Pull ups! So CrossFit and Church, no. Let's talk Cult. According to my friend Wiki, a Cult is a group of people who workship a diety. Greg Glassman (founder of CrossFit) is a pretty cool guy but we don't sit around in a circle sacrificing our muscles to him, well I guess that's debatable. Anyways Cult has a negative connotation and since CrossFit is anything but, we'll move on. Community, according to Wiki is, a small social unit of any size that shares common values. Ding Ding Ding! That's spot on. Everyday I'm at CrossFit, I'm working to attain my fitness goals. I'm talking about my goals, working towards them and cheering people on when they attain theirs. That's community. I genuinely care about the people at my Box and want them to succeed. We see each other covered in sweat with crazy blisters on our hands and yet we all go back for more. CrossFit is a Community and I am very thankful I am part of it.

So for all of you out there who have googled something or the other and have come across this post - Go out there and sign up for a class. And no, I'm not getting any kickbacks for saying that. Just go out there and try a CrossFit class and you'll see what I'm talking about. 

Back to me! Really I am not that self absorbed.  Okay maybe I am. I PR'd on deadlifts today at 165lbs! Wohoo! This is the week we are all discovering our 1 rep maxes so I was pretty happy with my deadlift. I wasn't happy yesterday with my shoulder press 1 rep max of 55. I had 55 back in July and seem to have plateaued. You win some, you lose some. Now that I know my 1 rep maxes, I know what I need to work on. This handy dandy website has been a tremendous help for me with regard to goal setting. 

I'm curious. Have you done CrossFit? What are your thoughts?